Friday, July 20, 2012

HOW DISTORTED WAS THE RESULT

"frivolous and vexatious", oft used terms uttered by Conservatives when defending themselves against a plethora of lawsuits. The Federal Court disagreed with Conservative Party lawyers and will is allow a legal challenge of the results of seven ridings across the country.

If the results are overturned, by-elections will be called.

The Council of Canadians is backing a group of voters who are challenging those results because of allegations of a deliberate campaign designed to mislead voters by sending them to the wrong polling stations on voting day.

Prothonotary Martha Milczynski says the applications to dismiss the election results raise serious
issues about the integrity of the democratic process. That is not a frivolous statement in a nation that many around the globe look to for democratic leadership.

Former Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj is challenging the result in Etobicoke Centre. He lost to Conservative MP Ted Opitz. The case was heard in Supreme Court earlier this month.

Vexatious, or not, the Conservatives have shown through the in-and out scandal, among other things, that they are prepared to use the letter of the law to defeat the spirit of the law, particularly when it comes to election financing. Their dirty trick squad has already been found guilty of breaking electoral laws and paid hefty fines.

The question that nobody really want to address is how have these dirty tricks impacted the outcome of the last two federal elections?